Detroit — Maybe it took a little longer than defenseman Jonathan Ericsson anticipated.
But Ericsson was back in the Red Wings lineup Thursday, after sitting out two weeks with a right shoulder injury.
“I could probably have played sooner, but it was a matter of it being games 35 or 36 (and not the playoffs) and so on,” said Ericsson, who missed five games altogether. “The doctors and (training) staff took that decision (out of my hands) and they’ve been through this before a lot more times than I have, and they know when it’s time to play better than me.